Unlikely

Chapter Five: Want

I woke up to the sounds of bird chirping, not out the window, but on my phone. They say if you wake up to the sound of something soothing as your alarm, then your day will go much smoother. Hadn't worked yesterday with the sound of waterfalls, so I changed it before bed to the sound of birds. Today had to be better.

I clicked off the alarm and sat up in my bed, pushing my braided hair away from my shoulders. I stared at my closet ahead of me for a moment before pushing away my comforter and slowly walking to the bathroom. When I made it, I clicked the light on and stared at my reflection in the mirror. Today would be better. I decided.

"Siri, play my morning music playlist on Spotify." A moment passed before some generic pop music began playing through the phone's speakers. I hummed along as I freshened up and made my way to my room.

I walked over to my desk that already had my chosen outfit laying over the top of my chair. A brown plaid pinafore dress and a cream-colored button down to pair underneath it. Once the clothes were on I spun around to my closet, looking at the shoes laid in perfect order on the ground. My gaze moved over the black shoes, past the white shoes, and onto the brown ones. I grabbed my pair of brown oxfords and spun again to my dresser to grab a pair of cream-colored ankle socks. The music mixed was definitely helping my outlook on the day.

I walked back to my closet, standing in front of the mirror to confirm this is what I wanted to wear today, and smiled at my choice. Onto my hair, I continued to hum as I unbraided it and ran my fingers through to fluff it out. I grabbed my brush off of a nearby stand and started combing through it. I brushed it up and examined every angle for uneven bumps before securing it with one of the simple brown hair-ties I had used to braid my hair. I smiled at the almost completed look before moving to my nightstand to pick out the last finishing touch.

I opened the top drawer and looked through the small container of ribbons for my hair. I reached for one of the thin ribbons, but I had worn a similar one yesterday. And today would not be like yesterday. I dropped it back in the container and grabbed the thicker clip on ribbon. Much more fitting for today.

My bag was already packed for today and I picked it up, along with my camera bag, and headed to the kitchen to fill up my water bottle. The curtains were still pull closed, and I paused a moment to stare at them. Not seeing the morning light creep in would not help my day continue on a good note, I knew that much. I sighed and walked to open them, hoping I wouldn't see him shirtless again, or worse...

But when I opened them, I was pleasantly surprised to find that he had put up some deep blue curtains. "Hm." I mumbled curiously. Guess he does listen to what he's told...

"Siri, music off please." My attention snapped away from the window and I turned around to see my mom walk in the kitchen and grab my water bottle from the counter.

"Oh, sorry, mama. Was it too loud?"

She shook her head and smiled, "Just wanted to talk and wish you a good day at school." She began filling my water bottle for me and I smiled back at her.

"Oh, okay. Thank you."

"Of course, baby girl." I walked away from the window and towards her, hugging her before she could hand me the water bottle back.

"Good morning." I said cheerfully.

"Good morning to you too." She hugged me back and then I knew, today would be a better day than yesterday. "Glad to see you're feeling better."

"I am." She smiled and handed the water bottle back to me.

"That's good. I packed a lunch for you last night, by the way, it's in the fridge."